Strand Palace Hotel, London

From the outside the hotel building looks impressive, is conveniently located, the lobby looks clean and the breakfast was acceptable. However, the room #582 I got was the worst hotel room I ever stayed in London. It was extremely small, not large enough to even fit a queen size bed, it contained just a small single bed, cheapest possible furniture, little window that was blocked to only open 100mm and facing a gloomy courtyard, no other ventilation or air-conditioning, so the air in the room was sticky and musty. The hallways also looked drab. I asked at the reception if I could get a better room, but the duty manager Barbara Bottaro refused, saying that all the rooms are the same. Her resolute attitude felt like her goal was to silence customers so that they do not dare asking for anything better. I walked around and found some rooms that did look little better and came back, insisting to see another room. She reluctantly showed a room on the 1st floor that was little bit larger and little less drab but directly faced HVAC outlets in the courtyard. After that she refused to show any other room, saying that she does not care if I complain. The last surprise was when I checked out and wanted to leave my luggage till the afternoon. This service is not free, hotel guests have to pay for it.

If you want to stay in one of the most central locations of London, this hotel delivers that. It is very close to Trafalgar square and has excellent underground and bus stops nearby. The price and quality ratio is OK for a city so expensive as London. If you want better accomodations and no issues with prices, then go elsewhere.

Fire alarm went off at 2 am.

The Strand Palace Hotel London is a mixed bag of good and poor quality. Arriving at the hotel makes you think this is a swanky glittering hotel. I believe that most of the rooms are old and waiting time to be renovated and upgraded. The corridors to the rooms are also worn out and quite the opposite to the lobby floor. If you need the room just to spend the night in and daytime you are out and about to savour the excellent London life, then it should be no problem. But if you are like me, wanting a no nonsense vacation, without problems like jumping over your suitcases because the room is too small or spending every moment in the room looking around the old victorian wallpapers, the upgrade to Club Room with bright white ceiling and walls with LCD TV to boot is well worth the extra spent.

Highly recommended for those who want to stay in the very heart of London.